


Not-So-Crappy Christmas

by chasethewind



Series: Chase's 12 Days of Christmas 2016 [9]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Lights, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Holidays, Marriage Proposal, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Surprise Ending, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8940784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: Anonymous: You hate Christmas because you’ve never had a good one. So I go all out to make this the best Christmas for you





	

"Close your eyes," Felicity said as she took Oliver's hand and led him out of the car. He covered his face with the other, dutifully following her as they stepped out into the cold, wintery night.

"Felicity, where are you taking me?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. He hadn't expected her to pick him up from city hall wearing a puffy pink parka and snow boots instead of her usual dress and heels that Christmas Eve. She told him they had plans that involved dressing down, which he took to mean jeans and an ugly sweater for some holiday party. This was not what he expected.

The drive out to the countryside had also been unexpected. Oliver prodded her with questions, trying to figure out where they were going, but Felicity remained mum. Her excitement was palpable, though. He could see it in the way her eyes sparkled as she stared out the window and nearly bounded out of her seat when she announced they had arrived.

"No peeking!" Felicity gleefully warned. She continued to lead him down a small path, the snow crunching beneath his boots, another suggestion she had offered as soon as they got into the car. Wherever she was taking Oliver, he hadn't the foggiest idea.

"Almost there." The path suddenly changed from snow on gravel to snow on something a little more hollow and wobbly, wood maybe. From the feel of it, they were probably on some kind of bridge. The gentle sound of water running over rocks quickly confirmed it.

"Okay, stop right there. Don't open your eyes!" Felicity warned. Her hand slipped out of his. Oliver could hear her fiddling with something in her coat pocket before a soft sigh of contentment escaped her lungs. Her hand found his again as she tugged it. "You can open your eyes now!"

Oliver's jaw dropped when he finally saw the scene before him. They stood on a small wooden bridge in the middle of a beautiful park. All the trees around them along with the wood railings were hung with twinkling white lights like a scene out of a Christmas movie. Several moments passed as he took it all in, his eyes wide and child-like as awe and wonder filled his heart.

"Felicity…" he whispered, unable to find the words to describe how he felt at that moment. Joy, gratitude, happiness, and love; they all beat from his chest.

"Do you like it?" she asked before nibbling on her lower lip in anticipation.

"It's… beautiful," Oliver replied. "How…? When…?"

"You know, I'm usually the one that speaks in fragments," Felicity quipped. "And to answer your questions: I had help, and over the past couple of weeks."

"But… why?" he found himself asking, because Oliver truly had no idea what he'd done to deserve this. For the past few years, their lives had been a rollercoaster with ups and downs, twists and turns that led them to some pretty dark places. This year felt different, though. By some miracle, there hadn't been any attacks on the city. There was no "big bad" after them. And they were together again. Things felt normal for the first time in a very long time.

"Because for the last five years, we've been through hell and back, and I wanted you to have a nice Christmas this year," Felicity explained.

A smile, one that reached all the way to his eyes, appeared on Oliver's lips. He turned to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and said, "Felicity Smoak, you are absolutely remarkable."

"Thank you for…" He cut her off mid sentence with a long, slow kiss that curled both their toes.

As he pulled away, Oliver rubbed his cold nose against hers, their foreheads touching as he gazed down at her. "I love you," he whispered, pecking her lips one more time.

"I love you, too," Felicity whispered back.

"How did I get so lucky?" He cupped her cheeks with his hands, unable to stop smiling at her. This was the most incredible Christmas he'd had since well before the island. With Felicity a stable fixture in his life once more, he wondered how this evening could get any better.

"I have one more surprise for you," she replied. "Actually, maybe more than one, but definitely one."

Oliver huffed out a laugh. "Okay," he said.

"I'm a little nervous, so, uh, just bear with me and don't say anything until I'm done, okay?"

"Of course."

Felicity grabbed his hand, their fingers interlocking as she pulled a piece of white paper out of her pocket. "I figured notes would probably be a good idea for this," she joked. Oliver waited patiently for her to settle down as she took deep breath after deep breath, little puffs of steam flowing out of her mouth into the cold air.

"I really hope you don't find this weird or threatening because I don't think I've ever been this nervous before," she said, fidgeting as she stared down at the paper.

"Felicity," he whispered, his hand reached up to stroke her cheek. That always calmed her down, and when their eyes met, she smiled up at Oliver, her appreciation reflected back at him in her eyes.

"Oh, screw it," Felicity muttered, dropping her notes and letting them float down into the river below their feet. "Oliver, we've been together for nearly seven years now. We've had a lot of ups and downs, but I've always loved you, even when you did stupid things. Watching you become the man you are today has made me so proud to call you my boyfriend, and now I'd really like to call you my fiancee again. So, Oliver Queen, will you marry me?"

Out of her pocket came the ring he'd given her when he proposed two years earlier. While it hadn't lasted that long, Oliver had kept it hoping one day he'd be able to give it back to her. In what he could only describe as the strangest twist of fate, here was Felicity giving it to him instead, a gesture he couldn't believe he was witnessing. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he took it from her hand and stared at it for several moments.

Was this really happened? Was she really proposing to him? Was she really ready to take that step with him again? Oliver knew he'd been ready since he first asked her, but he never expected Felicity to pull such an epic switcharoo. He gazed down at her hopeful face, her eyes sparkling in the Christmas lights around them as she waited for his answer.

"Under one condition," Oliver finally replied. Felicity's head cocked to the side as the smile that had been on her face began to fall. "Will you marry me, again?" he asked, a smirk turning his smile lopsided.

Felicity broke out into a full on belly laugh. She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. "Of course I'll marry you," she said.

Oliver slipped the ring onto her finger for the third time in their relationship, holding her hand as he admired it on her finger. This was definitely its rightful place. His ring, his mother's ring, didn't belong anywhere else. He leaned down and kissed her again. "Didn't you mention you had another surprise for me?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah! Uh…" Felicity stuttered. Her hand slipped out of his grasp, instead wrapping around his wrist and tugging it downward until it lay flat against her belly. The sudden realization of what that meant hit Oliver like a freight train. His eyes flicked from her face to her stomach as his brain went into overdrive. "I'm pregnant," she whispered, that hopeful look in her eyes returning.

Tears gathered in his eyes as Oliver tried to find the words to express just how incredible he felt at that moment, but there were none. He was finally going to marry the woman he loved and get to be a father. This was the best Christmas he'd ever had, hands down, until their child was born.


End file.
